Whistler’s Mother in NGV “惠斯勒的母亲”

Some may have only seen the Whistler’s Mother before in the movie Bean (1997) when Mr. Bean accidentally sneezed on it and eventually destroyed it. Thankfully it was just a fiction and Australians still have the opportunity to be up close and personal with the genuine painting in National Gallery Victoria (NGV) for three months, starting from 26th March. The Whistler’s Mother is one of the most important paintings in the world that made its debut down on loan form the Musée d’Orsay in Paris in exchange to lending NGV’s Pierre Bonnard’s Siesta (La Siesta) from 1900 as part of a cultural exchange program.

The artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler was born in Massachusetts in 1834 and moved with his family to Russia when he was 10 years old. He was trained as a painter since 1855 and ‘Portrait of the artist’s mother’ was painted in 1871. It was a controversial painting then and only became popular in 1934 when President Franklin Roosevelt devised a modified design of the work for a Mother’s Day stamp. Today it is an iconic painting, recognised alongside Mona Lisa and The Scream.

The purpose of NGV having this exhibition was to encourage viewers to see Whistler’s work afresh, highlighting what is so intriguing and mysterious about this magnificent work. It was undoubtedly a golden opportunity for those who love art and appreciate culture.